Historically, the Indus frontier has shaped India’s
history from early times. The Aryans, the Persians, Alexander the Great, Mohammed
Ghazni, the Mongols, the Mughals and the Afghans were amongst those who invaded
India from this route. The British, of course, entered by sea disguised as
traders but their focus for much of their stay in the subcontinent remained on
the threat from this direction (the west) as they feared a Russian invasion.
They were, however, caught looking in the wrong direction when the Japanese
during World War II attacked India from the East.
Post-Independence, the Western threat retained its
primacy as Pakistan remained obsessed with its revisionist policy regarding the
erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and India witnessed wars in
1947-48, 1965 and 1999 while the proxy war has remained firmly in place,
initially, with the lashkars and more recently through various terrorist
groups. However, the Pakistani Army has been consistent in losing all the wars
it fought against India.
Pakistan
PM at UNGA
There
are certain consistencies in Pakistan that endure, while, one of course is the
role of the Army. The other is the fact that over the years the Pakistan
leadership has used the UNGA Address as a platform to raise the Kashmir issue
and attack India on various counts. This year the interim Prime Minister has
not only abided by this narrative but also sharpened the tone and widened the
scope.
Addressing
the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, the interim
Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said "Kashmir is the key to peace
between Pakistan and India," he said. Predictably he harped upon what he
perceived is the illegal occupation of Jammu & Kashmir by India.[1]
Talking
of terrorism, he referred to countering “All terrorists without discrimination,
including the rising threat posed by far-right extremist and fascist groups, such
as Hindutva-inspired extremists threatening genocide against India’s Muslims
and Christians”.[2]
"We
also need to oppose ‘state terrorism’; address the root causes of terrorism,
such as poverty, injustice, and foreign occupation; and distinguish genuine freedom
struggles from terrorism”.[3]
Naturally,
he did not touch upon systemic violence against minorities in Pakistan,
including the recent large-scale ‘brutality’ perpetrated against the minority
Christian community in August in Jaranwala in Faisalabad District where a total
of nineteen churches were gutted and eighty-nine houses of Christian were burnt
down. Jaranwala being the latest in a series of violent incidents propagated to
persecute minorities that have little to hope in Pakistan. The state’s repeated
failure to prosecute those responsible for these crimes inspires minimalistic confidence
amongst minorities.
Pakistan Today
Anatol Lieven in his analysis of Pakistan; ‘A Hard
Country’ wrote that it remains “Divided, disorganized, economically backward,
corrupt and violent, unjust, oftenly savagely oppressive towards the poor and
women and home to extremely dangerous forms of extremism and terrorism”. All
this remains unchanged, in fact, it has only worsened over the last ten years
since the book was published.[4]
The Pakistani Army still remains the institution
binding the country. Which it does by its constant interference in politics and
foreign policy and literally holding the levers of power. It accounts for a
major share of the GDP, is deeply entrenched in the economy and responsible, to
a large degree, for Pakistan’s failure to develop a stable democratic system.
But as per an article in RUSI; “The
Pakistan Army is the one institution that inculcates a spirit of national
unity”. For it to survive, constantly blocking peace with India is paramount.
Pakistan always harped on its significance due to its
geostrategic location which resulted them in developing their nuclear weapons
with the West literally turning a blind eye. Since the NATO exit from Afghanistan, Pakistan no
longer enjoys any leverage over Western foreign policy. Its economy is in a
free fall and this has resulted in its diminishing role on the global stage.
Pakistan has the lowest per capita
income in South Asia and the largest number of out-of-school kids in the world.
Further, it is facing increasing terror attacks from Afghan soil; ironically
the Taliban are biting the ‘hand that fed it’. There is no doubt, it
is facing a convergence of
economic, security, and political crises.
India’s Response
Petal
Gahlot, India’s First Secretary at its Permanent Mission in the UN stressed that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of
India and Pakistan had no locus standi to comment on the issue.
"Pakistan has become a habitual offender when it
comes to misusing this forum to peddle baseless and malicious propaganda
against India. Member states of the UN and other multilateral organisations are
well aware that Pakistan does so to deflect the international community's
attention away from its own abysmal record on human rights”.[5]
“Pakistan has been the home and patron to the largest
number of internationally proscribed terrorist entities and individuals in the
world. Instead of engaging in technical sophistry, we call upon Pakistan to
take credible and verifiable action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai
terror attacks, whose victims await justice even after fifteen years,” Gahlot
said in the scathing response.[6]
She said Pakistan needs to take three-fold action for
there to be peace in South Asia. “First, stop cross-border terrorism and shut down its
infrastructure of terrorism immediately. Second, vacate Indian territories
under its illegal and forcible occupation, and third, stop the grave and
persistent human rights violations against the minorities in Pakistan”.
Conclusion
While Pakistan continues to face a multitude of
challenges its tactics lie in constantly diverting attention to issues such as
Kashmir. But does the “threat from India” create a national solidarity against
the current state of affairs?
Serious reform has never been on its agenda. Hence,
its ability and willingness in making policy shifts continues to elude them. Statements
such as these by a nuclear armed state which continues to use terrorism as an
instrument of state policy reinforces the fact that Pakistan is not keen on
peace and stability in the region and remains focused on its revisionist agenda.
Petal Gahlot has rightly pointed out that "Pakistan has
become a habitual offender when it comes to misusing this august forum to
peddle baseless and malicious propaganda against India. Member states of the
United Nations and other multilateral organisations are well aware that Pakistan
does so to deflect the international community's attention away from its own
abysmal record on human rights".
Endnotes
[1]
ANI, Pak caretaker PM Kakar rakes up Kashmir at UNGA, India’s right to reply on
Saturday, The Print, 22 September 2023, https://theprint.in/world/pak-caretaker-pm-kakar-rakes-up-kashmir-at-unga-indias-right-to-reply-on-saturday/1774154/
[2]
PM Kakar calls for countering all terrorists, including ‘Hindutva inspired
extremists’, in UNGA address, The Dawn, 22 September 2023 https://www.dawn.com/news/1777295
[3]
Ibid
[4]
Book Review: A Primer on Pakistan- Anatol Lieven ‘A Hard Country’, New York
Times, 24 June 2011 https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/books/review/book-review-pakistan-by-anatol-lieven.html
[5]
'Vacate POK, stop terrorism': India hits back at Pakistan at UN, Business
Today, 23 September 2023, https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/world/story/vacate-pok-stop-terrorism-india-hits-back-at-pakistan-at-un-399439-2023-09-23
[6]
Ibid
Major General Jagatbir Singh, VSM (Retd) is a Distinguished Fellow at the USI of India. Commissioned in 1981 into the 18 Cavalry, he has held various important command and Staff appointments including command of an Armoured Division.
Uploaded on 09-10-2023
Disclaimer : The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the organisation that he/she belongs to or of the USI of India.